


I’ve Had No Affiliations With Any Known Criminals Officers

by abiotic_butterfly



Series: Mpreg and the Gallagher’s [4]
Category: Shameless (US), Shameless - Fandom
Genre: Bro Time, CPS, Child Protective Services, Childcare, Children, College, Ditching Children, Driving, F/M, Halloween, Halloween decorating, Injury, Jail, Lot’s Of Pitying, M/M, Old Characters Rise From The Dead, Packing, Police, Possible Med Porblems, Previous Attempt Murder, Prison, Sex, Shame, Shopping, Stealing, Teenage Pregnancy, University, Unresponsive Parenting, apologizing, being arrested, child endangerment, injuries, not cannon compliant, officers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-05
Updated: 2018-11-23
Packaged: 2019-08-19 04:35:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 9
Words: 11,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16527482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abiotic_butterfly/pseuds/abiotic_butterfly
Summary: When Ian is visited by the police who drop the bomb of him being a father, he doesn’t know what to do anymore.





	1. There’s A Pounding At The Door

The Gallagher’s were all sitting in the living room. Something that was nowadays rare. 

Fiona was flicking through the TV channels and looking back at everyone to see their reactions. 

Lip was sitting on the couch next to her, his eyes glued to the screen that had female strippers swinging on polls. That was until Fiona changed it, “the fuck, go back.”

His sister rolled her eyes, “I’m not leavin’ that on with Liam in the room.”

The young Gallagher looked up at the mention of his name. He looked around but couldn’t find any reason for them to have mentioned him and ultimately looked back down. 

Debbie was sat on the sofa next to Lip, Franny sat on her lap where she was hitting things with a piece of blanket that was now her favorite lovey. 

Carl was currently at home but not watching the movie, instead he and his girlfriend were upstairs making out as everyone tried to enjoy a family friendly movie.

Ian was squeezed in next to Debbie, the last thing he wanted was to be stuck at home but Fiona had begged him and he finally caved.

Frank was there too surprisingly, yes, he was passed out on the floor but still nonetheless. 

The front door was suddenly being violently pounded against and everyone’s attention was brought to it.

“Who the hell is that?” Debbie asked, her face screwed up in confusion. 

Lip stretched, jumping over the couch and groaning. “Don’t worry, I got it.” He skipped up the stairs and grabbed the baseball bat, then crept up to the door and swung it open, dropping the bat in surprise when he was met face to face with a police officer.

He opened the door uncertainty and looked at the family as the man walked in. 

The Gallagher’s were all staring at the man downright horrified at whoever had fucked up now.

“Is there an Ian Gallagher here?” The man looked between the boys to see who would give any indication of belonging to the name.

“That’s um- that’s me.” The redhead spoke up, he looked at Fiona who was now giving him a stern look. The famous, ‘the fuck did you do?’ face.

“Are you in anyway connected to Mikhailo Aleksandr Milkovich?” 

Ian nodded slowly, “look I didn’t do shit-“

“Did you have any sexual relations with Mikhailo Aleksandr Milkovich?” 

Ian and the rest of his family was at an utter loss for what to say. “Wh- I yeah. We were- we- yeah.”

“Is there anyway you could be the father to Mikhailo Aleksandr Milkovich’s child?” The policeman might have seemed bored as he spoke but Ian’s heart was now pounding and his throat had closed up. 

“What?” Was all he could choke out.

The policeman held up his finger in a ‘wait’ motion. He walked out the door and yelled out for someone. “Nickson, bring the kid!” 

In less than five minutes another police officer, a woman this time, walked inside with a bundle in her arms. 

Ian was barley containing himself from screaming and crying. His mouth was hung open and his hands were becoming dangerously sweaty. 

She stepped forward, holding out the baby to the teen. “Looks like we’ve gotta match.” The woman smiled as she looked between the baby’s red hair and Ian’s. 

“Holy fuck.” Was the only thing that broke the silence. Lip was looking between the two redheads, an insane smile on his face. The whole thing was unbelievable.

The infant fussed, trying to turn in the blanket to get out of the woman’s hold. Tiny arms reaching out in no direction, only looking for another humans contact. When the baby found none it started to whimper and then began to cry.

Ian just stared at the thing as if it were a monster, something that was utterly horrifying. 

Debbie rolled her eyes, shifting so she could hold out her arms. “Give the kid here.” The Officer compiled, lowering the baby into the young girls arms. 

Franny looked at the baby suspiciously, her eyes fitting from the bundle to her mother. For such a young girl she was already learning a lot about the world and right now her attention was brought solely on the questionable baby. 

Debbie took in the baby’s appearance, her finger hooking around the blankets edge to peer into the blankets and get a better look. 

At this point the entire gang was now leaning over and staring at the poor thing, some faces showing sadness while others were filled with worry. 

The small child was looking around at everyone, it’s mouth opening and closing as it tried to move its arms for attention. 

Lip was the first to snap out of it, he turned away from the baby and back to the police officers. “Why exactly are we finding out now? This whole thing makes no fuckin’ sense.”

The woman stepped closer to them, clearly about to explain. “Before Mikhailo was thrown in jail he was already pregnant. After seeking our teams medical advisors he discovered what exactly was going on with him. It took us a while before we could reach you because no one visited him and he refused to talk about the other father. Right before the decision to either give the child up for adoption or let the second parent raise it he gave us your details and that’s where we are now.”

“No one visited him?” Debbie asked quietly, her eyes remorseful. 

“He was visited a few times in the first few weeks of his incarceration. But the sign in name was a woman’s and that left us with nothing.” 

Lip looked at Ian, his brows furrowed. “Thought you mentioned seein’ him once.” 

Ian nodded slowly, still reeling with all the information. “Yeah, I did. Never signed in, kind of managed past that when the guards changed their shifts.” He looked down sheepishly. 

“If this is all, I’m afraid we’ll be leaving now. I’ll be right make with his medical records and we should be done.” She dashed out of the house as quickly as she had come in.

“It’s a boy?” He whimpered out, his eyes going from the floor to what was apparently his son. 

Fiona who had stayed quiet the whole time decided now would be the time to speak up. “Ian…do you, I mean is it best to take care of a baby now?”

Ian’s head snapped up and he frowned, “are you suggesting I abandon my child?” 

“Adoption isn’t abandonment. You’re life’s getting better; EMT, meds, Trevor. I don’t know if this is a step in the right direction.” 

“I can’t just leave him. You know how awful the system is. How can you say that?” Ian was getting a bit worked up which anyone can see wasn’t a good idea. “Just because you don’t want your baby doesn’t mean I don’t.” He gave his older sister the hardest glare he could manage.

Fiona looked heartbroken, her eyes had gone glassy and she was stuttering with what to say. “I just want you to be prepared. I don’t want you to think it’s gonna be easy.”

Ian scoffed, “you think I don’t know how hard it is. Of course I know, and do I want to have to raise him at my age? Fuck no. But I’m never gonna give him up, he’s never gonna wonder if I love him or not.” 

Fiona nodded, her head ducked in an attempt to hide what was almost tears. “Can’t believe how everyone’s been in some way related to teenage pregnancy.” She sniffled, “I’ve fuckin’ failed. Carl’s gonna knock some girl up, Liam, god I don’t want that to happen.” 

Lip shook his head, sighing heavily before he began. “You’re not a failure, you can’t stop us from doin’ stupid fucked up things. And yeah, it happens, it’s just apart of things. We’ll figure it out, one way or another.” He might have disagreed with his sister a lot in the past, but it never wanted her to feel like she’d failed them. 

The policewoman returned with a folder filled with the small boy’s medical documents. “We’ll be heading out now.” The police gave them nods and then headed for the door, leaving the family to take in everything that had just happened.


	2. The First Night

It was around three am when Ian was suddenly woken up. He quickly sat up, his head whipping from side to side, alert and ready to catch whoever caused the noise that woke him up. 

His eyes focused in the dim lighting and he made out the figure of…Debbie it looked like, in his doorway. 

He heard whimpering come from that direction and he realized why exactly Debbie was now standing in his room.

“He woke up and now I gotta put Franny down again.” She walked over to his bed and leaned down to transfer the young child into her brothers arms. 

Ian tried to rock the baby, hoping maybe the motion would settle him but instead his whimpers upgraded to the beginnings of wails. “Debbie the fuck do I do?” He looked desperately at his younger sister. 

“He might be hungry, just gotta make him a bottle.” She shrugged as if it was the easiest thing.

“How the hell do I make a bottle?” He was bouncing the baby as he continued to cry. 

She sighed but clearly took pity on him, her hand motioning for him to follow. “I’ll show you, c’mon.” 

Ian did as told, trailing behind Debbie and watching as she walked into the kitchen and pulled out one of Franny’s bottles. “Here, you’re gonna wanna pour milk in here.” She grabbed the carton of milk from the fridge and poured the cows nutrition into the see through baby bottle. 

“Now you’re gonna need to heat it up; but it can’t be too hot or you’ll burn him.” She popped the bottle in the microwave and set it for 10 seconds. When the time was up she pulled the bottle out and screwed the lid on. 

“Then you dab some onto your wrist to check.” She did the following, squirting a little bit onto the right side of her veins. 

She turned it right side and unscrewed the top, blowing a bit on it before securing the kid shut. “Should be good.” She passed Ian the bottle and leaned against the kitchen counter to watch as her brother tried to get the baby to accept the bottle nipple.

“Please…” he whispered, trying his best to convince the tiny human to give the bottle a try.

The boy gave in when Ian pushed the tip against his lips and began to suck. He moved his hands up to the bottle to hold onto, even if there was no real reason for him to do so. 

“Holy shit; he’s eating.” Ian found himself smiling, a chuckle forming in his throat. 

The two watched in silence as the small boy downed the bottle. Ian looked away from the child, his face pulled into a frown. “I’m gonna fail aren’t I?” He whispered out.

Debbie moved closer to him, her hand on his arm. “No, don’t do that. I hate that. No one was there for me when I went through being pregnant and dealing with a newborn. But I’ll help you.” 

Ian shook his head, his eyes glancing up and then looking away. “I didn’t help you though, I wasn’t there. I mean I might not have told you to get rid of Franny. But I didn’t do anything for you.” 

Debbie shrugged, even if tears had clouded her eyes. “I’m tryin to set a good example for my daughter. So I’m gonna move on and forget that. You good with that?”

Ian nodded, “course I am Debs.” He gave her the best smile he could. 

“Good, now I think he’s done.” She took the bottle from Ian’s hand and set it on the counter. “You can put him back with Franny if ya want.” 

Ian nodded solemnly, his eyes glued to the baby again. The little guy was closing his eyes and burrowing into Ian’s chest. 

Debbie watched as her brother quietly walked upstairs, disappearing around the corner as he went. She shook her head but she had a sweet smile on her face. 

Grabbing the bottle she went ahead and rinsed it out, leaving it upside down to dry overnight. 

She headed upstairs and went to her room to find that the boy wasn’t in Franny’s crib. With her daughter sound asleep she wandered over to the boy’s room and peeked inside to see Ian curled up protectively around his baby. 

A happy smile graced her face and she returned to her room.


	3. I Can Feed A Baby

The next morning was a nightmare.

“Ian get him to quiet down I’m tryin’a fall asleep!” Lip who was currently face down on the couch yelled to Ian who was rushing around the kitchen desperately trying to figure out how to follow Debbie’s directions of bottle making last night.

The stairs creaked and Ian looked up hopefully to see his younger sister, but instead he saw his older sister. 

She was rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and looking at him worriedly. “The hell are you tryin’a do?” 

“Make a bottle, Debbie showed me yesterday. Fuck! I can’t remember.” His yells only got the baby to cry louder, the small being pounding its fists against his chest.

Fiona frowned at that. “A bottle? Ian newborns can’t drink milk. They gotta be weaned onto it. Give him milk now and you’ll fuck up his insides or some shit.” She reached out for the baby, whom Ian gladly handed away. 

“Why’d Debbie tell you that?” Fiona looked utterly puzzled.

Ian’s mouth was hung open and he was in a state of complete panic. “I-I don’t know. I just- how do I feed him? Fuck.” He rubbed his forehead where the signs of a bad headache were starting. 

“Don’t know, go up and fuckin’ ask her. I’m not gonna hold him forever.” She was looking between her brother and the infant in her arms, delicately bouncing him as best as she could.

He raced up the stairs, only hearing partly to Fiona's shouts of. “And what the hell are you gonna name him?”

He ran down the hall and into his sisters room, throwing open the door, an outraged expression on his face. “Why the hell did you have me feed my son milk when he’s not supposed to drink it?”

Debbie picked Franny up, almost protectively and stared up at Ian was a serious face.

“I did it to help, he was starving and we didn’t have anything else. I didn’t expect you to be open to the idea of me breastfeeding your child so I went along with milk being okay. Would you have rather freaked out that you couldn’t feed him?” 

Ian hated that she was right, he would have had a mini- okay major ‘freak out’ at three in the morning if his son wouldn’t have been able to eat. “Well I’m freaking out now! I still don’t have breast milk! And I don’t know where the fuck to get any! Is there a place to get it? Can I just- I don’t know, fuckin’ buy it?” He was running through every possible scenario in his head, images of him failing, his baby dying, him being kicked out from all the crying, social services taking him away.

“Please Debbie…I don’t know what to do…” His voice cracked and it took everything in him not to fall down against her door and cry. 

“I’ll feed him.” 

He looked up at that, his heart pounding at the realization that she could help. But then his ego got the better of him and he shook his head. “Not havin’ my son suck on your tit.”

Debbie rolled her eyes, “Ian your kid is starving and you’re gonna deny him food just because I’m your sister?” She looked at him with plain disappointment. 

He gave no answer and to that she scoffed. “See, this is why I didn’t mention it last night. Knew your answer before you gave one.” She headed for the door, about to leave when she sighed and looked back to her older brother who looked like he was going to curl up in a ball on the floor. 

“Infants can drink formula. Not as good as breast milk, but it’ll do. We don’t have it cuz Franny doesn’t need it, but you should be able to get it in stores.” She left before Ian could reply.

Ian scrambled to his feet, rushing out his sisters door and down the steps. “Hey Fiona can you watch him while I run to the store?” He violently threw on his coat to protect himself from the chilly air and zipped it up. 

His older sister was giving him a half glare have disapproving look. “Ian, he’s your kid. You’re gonna have to take responsibility for him…unless you agree with me in thinking that you raising a baby is a bad decision and that you should give him up for adoption.”

Ian glared back, “I’m not giving him up. What would Mickey say to that? He wanted me to have him!” 

“Yeah, well Mickey’s not here is he?!” She didn’t intend for her voice to raise to a shout but once she got there is was hard to lower again. “Mickey is in prison.” She gritted out, her jaw tight. “He gave you a chance to know you gotta kid. But it’s not him that’s gonna be takin’ care of this baby. It’s you. And I don’t think you can do that.” Her face softened and her eyes went to that glassy shade that happened when she was pitying someone. 

Ian had looked down, ashamed that he couldn’t meet his sisters now kind and hurt eyes. “Just give me the baby.” 

Fiona sighed, passing the whimpering child over to him. “Ian…you haven’t even named him yet. If you’re gonna parent him. Ya gotta give him a name.” 

Ian nodded, his eyes lock to the newborn blue of his sons. “Alek…it’s the short version of Mickey’s middle name. It’s all I’ve got.” He shrugged, “not really good at pickin’ names for shit. Don’t wanna give him some dumbass name.” 

Fiona smiled, looking down at the young child. “Fits him…what about a middle name?”

“I’ll just go with mine.”

Fiona laughed, “Alek Clayton Gallagher. I like it.” 

Ian gave her a barely there smile, “glad you approve.”

She smirked, wacking him in the head, “go get him some fuckin’ food. Oh and here-“ she picked up his blanket that the officers had left with him. “It’s freezing out there, don’t want him fuckin’ dyin. You’re gonna have to buy him some proper clothes, I’d do that after you get him fed.” She gave Ian a pat after she had secured the blanket around the baby. 

Ian gave her a thankful smile, “thank you Fiona.”

She nodded, a smile on her face even if her eyes held sadness. “Feels nice to hear.”

Right as Ian was about to leave Fiona spoke again, “I’m not gonna kick you out like I did Debbie. I learned from that, but I sure as hell expect you to get your act together and take care of him. He’s not my responsibility. Got that?”

Ian nodded, even if Fiona couldn’t see him and shut the door behind himself.


	4. Nostalgia Is Attacking Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Make sure to leave comments! Who doesn’t love those? :)

Ian strolled down the sidewalk, Alek whining and pouting up at Ian, tears clouding his baby blue eyes. 

“Don’t worry, I’m gonna get you formula and you’ll be all better, right?” He rocked the baby, trying his best to keep a happy smile on his face.

He jumped a little when he saw a small human run his way. The child was Asian and appeared to have a face deformity but Ian didn’t get a really good look. The small boy ran into his leg, looking up at him in question.

“Ian?” 

He looked up to see...Karen.

His eyes widened and he let out a small laugh, never did he think he’d ever see her again. “Karen, wow, its a- its been awhile.” He gave a nervous smile, the last thing he wanted was for Lip to get pissed at him for talking to Karen if he was still mad at her.

“Yeah, I’m back in town. Mom is too. She’s been living outside the old house in her RV. Surprised it hasn’t gotten towed yet. Neighborhoods different after all, ran into those lesbians, damn are they annoying.” She walked closer and picked up her kid, placing the small child on her hip. 

“Hymie remember not to run into people.” She chastened the child. The boy whimpered, looking away almost like he’d been hit.

“Sorry Momma, it won't happen again.” 

She nodded, “better not.”

Ian couldn’t decided if she was more like the Karen he and Lip first knew or if her personality was still wack from her getting hit by that car all those years back.

Alek pulled on his jacket and cried pityingly, his little feet trying to kick out at Ian.

Karen smiled, her former frown gone. “Who’s this little cutie?” She brought her free hand out to Alek, her finger brushing along his soft cheek.

He shifted his boy so that Karen could have a better look than just seeing the side of his face that wasn’t buried in Ian’s jacket. “This is Alek, say hi bud.”

The baby looked at her confused, his eyes going from Karen’s brown to Ian’s green. His arms tucking themselves into his dad's jacket as best as he could. 

“How old is he?” 

Ian frowned, “I um- not really sure. He’s got some paperwork that came with him but I haven’t gotten to look over all that yet. I’m guessin’ a couple days.” 

Karen raised an eyebrow, “where’d you get him from? I mean he looks like you, he’s got your hair. But seems like ya’ didn’t know about him.” 

Ian sighed, his shoulders dropping. “Me and my old boyfriend, Mickey. He and I were together a while, longer than most. I went crazy with my bipolarness and not takin’ pills and I kinda fucked up what we had. He’s in jail now and I just found out he got pregnant before he went in. Police tracked me down and now I got him.” 

Karen gave him a pitying look, one he couldn’t tell if it was sincere or not. “That fuckin’ sucks. I know what it’s like to get stuck with a kid ya don’t want. But in the end they’re not so bad.” She bounced her son to indicate that she was talking about him if it couldn’t be more obvious.

“I feel like I’m gonna fail. Did that happen to you?” He was desperate at this point, even if he was talking to the girl that was basically the school slut and cheated on his brother multiple times.

Karen smirked, “course I did. Least your kids not fucked, I freaked when I realized Hymie had down syndrome.” She looked down at her own kid and then up at Ian, “never got to really go baby shopping. Ever need help and I’ll be there.”

Ian didn’t know what to say, “well actually I’m going to the store now. I gotta get him food and then I was plannin’ on gettin’ him all the stuff he needs.” 

She gave a smile, one that actually seemed real. “Shame you’re gay, always thought you were hot.” With that she turned, “let’s go Gallagher!” 

Ian quickened his steps, falling behind Karen as she speed walked down the sidewalk. “I gotta get him formula so we’re headin’ to the grocery store first.” 

She gave a nod, a small smile on her face. “Fine by me.” 

Ian and Karen continued their way down the sidewalk, small conversations making up the silence on the way to the corner shop. 

“How come I ran into you anyways? Goin’ to see Lip again?” Ian chuckled, knowing that’s exactly what Karen was doing.

“Still not over him; know I should be. But there’s somethin’ bout Lip fuckin’ Gallagher that gets me all wet.”

Ian cringed, “didn’t need to hear that.” 

She laughed, “yeah I know, I know. Girls are a major turn off.”

Ian shook his head, “don’t think anyone would want to hear about someone getting turned on by their brother.”

She elbowed him playfully, a smile on her face. “Shut up.” She smirked.

The two turned into the Kash and Grab, a feeling of nostalgia coming over Ian as he took in the store. “Old memories.” He breathed out, his eyes roaming the shelves and counter, then to the freezer section. 

“Fucked a lot in here.” He whispered to Karen as an elderly lady passed them, her face turning down in displeasure at the two teens giggling and laughing.

“Ian?” 

This was the day for the redhead to be greeting old acquaintances because Linda was standing right in front of him. 

He found himself frozen, “h-hey. Haven’t seen you in awhile.” Alek whimpered, Ian’s attention momentarily distracted. “Do you know where the formula is?” 

She looked away from his eyes and to the baby in his arms. “Oh…sure. It’s over here.” She lead him to the back of the store. There she took out a box that was labeled Formula followed by other less important words. “This should do…” she handed him the box and then went back to looking at him. 

“So, where have you been the past couple years?” She didn’t sound judging, just curious if anything.

“I um- I kinda went through a lot. I went into the military, an’ everything got fucked when I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.” His eyes turned sorrowful, “I was dating someone. Mickey actually.”

She nodded, “what an asshole.” She huffed, shaking her head. “Can’t believe what a dick he was.” She caught herself, looking up at Ian. “Sorry.”

He shook his head, “nah, I um- I get it. He’s always been kinda a dick. But I was kind of a dick too.”

She smiled, “kinda yeah.” Her smiled dimmed, “you were a kid Ian…what you and my husband did was wrong. But he was the adult, the fucking pussy that left his three kids, not the fifteen year old that would fuck anything that walked.”

Ian snorted at that, “yeah, sounds about right.” He sighed, “so me and Mickey. Yeah.” He smiled, a longing and sadness look in his eyes. “It was fun while it lasted. But, didn’t really end well. Between his dad beating the shit out of us, him makin’ Mickey rape some chick and knock her up, followed by a forced marriage that ended in him comin’ out and Terry gettin’ sent to jail.” He said this like it was a talk about the weather. 

Her face contorted in horror, “good God…I had no idea…”

He shrugged, “not even the worst part. I went insane, got kicked out of the military, went on a fucking spree and, and God I did a whole ton of awful shit to Mickey. To everyone.” He bit lip, “Frank had another daughter, one no one knew about. She’s a cunt and basically told the military officers where I was an’ I got hauled off to jail. Mickey did somethin’ to her. I don’t know really what. But the police took him away and he’s still locked up, it’s gonna be awhile before he’s out.”

Linda was giving him that sympathetic look that everyone gave him when he talked about the shit that happened to him. “You doin’ better now…? How’d you get him?” She nodded towards the baby in his arms.

“I’m doin’ better. I’m an EMT now, got a new boyfriend. His name's Trevor, I um…I really like him.” He looked almost shy when he said this, his cheeks dusting red. “Haven’t really liked someone in awhile.” He admitted. “Got him last night, all bran new.” He gave the kid a tickle, the baby squirming in response. “Police dropped him off, apparently Mickey was pregnant.”

Linda’s eyes widened, “damn…” her mouth formed a sad smile and she shook her head, “never thought I’d feel bad for a Milkovich.” She moved her hand in an indication to Karen who was busy flirting with a random guy that just walked in. “You should probably get your friend and go, kids gonna need to eat.” She looked back to Alek who looked like he was about to start crying again.

“Yeah, best do that.”

She motioned for him to follow her and she checked out his item. “Cash I’m guessing?” 

Ian nodded, “you guessed right.” He pulled out a twenty, “just keep the change. It was nice to see you again, Linda.” 

The older woman nodded, “it was nice to see you too.”

Ian was about to head out when he turned around, “hey what was your kid? Another boy?”

She shook her head, a happy smile overcoming her face. “Nah, got a little girl.”

Ian gave her a warm smile back, “he’s missin’ out a good family.”

Linda nodded, “you bet your ass he is.”


	5. Same Old Same Old

Karen and Ian continued their walk to the baby store, Alek becoming even more fussy because of the lack of food.

Ian bounced and rocked him, trying everything he could think of to get the baby to stop crying. “God- fuck, I gotta get him something to drink out’a.”

Karen pointed ahead of them, a sign that said ‘Baby Stuff For U’ in big lettering had Ian relaxing. 

The two of the jogged/ran to the store, looking around amazed at the inside. 

“Wow, never been in one. Mom always did the shopping for him. Don’t think I was really ever interested, and then we got his shit from Walmart.” She walked over and ran her finger along a fluffy pink fabric. “Look at all this shit.”

Ian wasn’t paying much attention to her though, his eyes were glued on the bottles. “Which ones should I get?” There seemed to be twenty different options. 

Karen walked over, Hymie pulling on her hair for a need of attention. “I’d say this one, given it says it’s for newborns.”

Ian nodded, quickly grabbing the bottle and tearing the paper off of it before Karen could react. 

“Ian? Shit what are you doing?” Karen was trying to cover up the ripped apart packaging.

“Makin’ him a bottle.”

“Dumbass you need water and to heat it, God Ian, fuckin’ hell.” 

The taller man grumbled under his breath and threw the bottle into the cart he had grabbed earlier. 

“Okay so we gotta hurry this up; what do we gotta get?” He rocked Alek more, flattening the small boy into his jacket in a loving attempt to show he cared. He was trying.

Karen grabbed a few more bottles from the rack Ian had grabbed the first one from and threw them in the cart’s basket. “Hymie you’re gonna stay in here and watch our stuff okay?” She lifted the preschooler over the buggy’s edge and let him sit inside. 

“Okay, toys, babies love that shit.” She ran over to the toy display. “Here, says under three months, it’s good, look for those.”

Ian nodded, his eyes scanning and then throwing anything that was deemed age appropriate into the cart.

“Blankets, it’s fuckin’ freezing. Here.” She tossed a warm and thick blanket into the cart. “Clothes!” She raced around to the other side and smiled at the gigantic display. 

“Get anything that looks warm and is for newborns.” She zapped through it fast, anything that was a designated boys color and had long pant legs and sleeves was in the cart. Ian looked more carefully, eyeing the designs and smiling at some of the cute ones with dinosaurs and monkeys.

“Think we’re good there, you think you’ll need a stroller?”

Ian thought about it, he’d like to go on runs with Alek. “Yeah, but make it a cheap one. I’m gonna check out the cribs.” The two separated, Karen taking the cart and going left and Ian taking Alek and going right.

The display of cribs was small but that’s all they really needed.

“Need any help, Sir.” An older woman, probably in her mid 60s walked up with a bright smile on her face.

“Aw, isn’t he precious? How old is he?” She was cooing down at the baby, smiling and making silly faces at him. 

“He’s a couple days old.” 

“Oh my, a little newborn. How adorable. Where’s his momma? She around here, sweetie?” Her attention was brought back to the baby almost immediately.

“I uh-“ How could he tell her he was gay? That Alek’s “momma” was in prison. 

Then he remembered he didn’t have to. 

“Yeah, she’s shopping with me. We’re watching our neighbors kid and we figured shopping with him would be a fun activity.

“Hey Ian! I found the stroller!” Karen came racing out of an aisle, a dark blue and light blue stroller that looked decently sturdy and useable in her grasp.

“This is my wife, Emily.” He looked to Karen pleadingly, he didn’t want to have to deal with an old lady that was most likely set in her way. 

Karen looked from Ian and to the store worked and nodded, a somewhat forced smile on her face. “That’s right, I’m his wife and he’s ours.” She pointed to Alek. 

The woman nodded, a smile on her face. He looks like you two.” Her comment of course meant to be a compliment brought nothing but suspicion for Ian.

He furrowed his brows but caught himself, nodding along gratefully. “Yes he does.” He shifted Alek, the young boy making a squeak/gurgle noise as he looked around. 

“How cute, so you two have been married awhile? This your first kid I’m guessing?” 

Ian laughed nervously, “um about, what? T-?”

Karen nodded along finishing the sentence with him “two.” 

In strained a smile and looked over at the noise of things on the shelves next to them falling. 

“Momma are we going?” Hymie was looking up at Karen as he wandered around aimlessly.

She looked up at the worker quickly, afraid she’d figure it out. “Sorry, sometimes he thinks I’m his mom. Kinda slow this one.”

The employee nodded, a pitying look on her face. “Poor dear, but I best be getting back to work. Do you need any help?” 

Ian thought for a second, “actually yes. We’re looking for a crib. Do you know exactly which one would be a good one…? Preferably the cheapest one…?” He bit lip at the woman’s thoughtful look. 

“Well, my daughter bought one from here. Let’s see if they still have it.” She turned and the two adults and child followed behind.

“Ah, here it is. Very good buy, sturdy yet elegant, not too expensive, perfect for young parents.” She pulled out a box, grunting with the weight of it.

Ian nodded, “seems perfect…how much is it though?”

“It’s about 500 bucks.” 

Ian inwardly cringed, that was a lot, he didn’t have that kind of money. 

“We’ll take it.” Karen spoke behind him. 

The worker nodded, “great, if you’re ready to checkout I could ring you up right over here.” She gestured to the checkout booth not that far away. 

He looked at Karen who had now had both cart and stroller in hand. “I’m good, you?”

Ian nodded and turned back to the woman. “Yeah. We’re good.”

The gang made their way over to the cash register and when the employee went to start scanning things Ian used this as an opportunity to question Karen. 

“Why the fuck did you say we’d buy the crib. I can’t afford that.” He whispered rather harshly. 

Before she could retort the worker was standing and smiling at them. “What are your means of payment. Cash or credit?”

Karen nodded, digging in her wallet and pulling out a credit card. 

The employee took the card and swiped it, “just sign there…Amelia? Thought it was Emily.”

Ian went to panic but Karen shook her head, a fond smile on her face. “Everyone calls me Emily, Amelia just didn’t seem right so I go by my middle name.”

The worker nodded, “okay. Just sign there.”

Karen took the pen and signed on the small screen, pressing the green button when instructed to. 

“And you’re all done. Have a nice day, it was lovely chatting.”

Ian grabbed the bag as best as he could with Alek in his arms but managed to give the woman a smile. “Yeah, it was nice. We’ll be seeing you.”

With the bags in the cart and somehow Karen managing to lift the crib and stroller into the cart. 

The three of them walked out of the store, and down the street. 

“Hey, you gonna give the cart back?” He laughed, as Karen shrugged, “they’ve got tons.”

The two walked in silence back to Ian’s house, okay, not really silence. Alek at this point was openly sobbing and pounding his fists against Ian’s jacket.

“Poor bud; hasn’t eaten all day.” Karen received a glare from Ian at the comment.

“I’m gonna feed him when I get home.” He insisted.

Karen sighed, “yeah, yeah, I know.”

The two, eventually, reached the Gallagher house, it might have taken forever with a crying Alek and a complaining Hymie but they made it. 

“Here, I’ll take Alek and you get the crib inside and shit.” She reached her arms out and took the crying baby, his little legs kicking in the confinements of his blanket. 

Ian could hear someone walking through the kitchen, a groaning coming from the living room. It was apparently Lip, who had most likely just woken up from his nap. 

“The fucks with the noise?” He was rubbing sleep out of his eyes when he looked up and saw Karen in the doorway. 

His mouth opened and he stuttered, “h-hey Karen. What the- what the hell are you doin’ back here?” 

Karen shrugged, “mom wanted to come and I guess I did too.” She turned her attention to Ian and smirked, “me and your little bro have been baby shopping. Actually fun when it’s not your baby.”

Lip nodded numbly, “oh, uh, yeah, cool, cool.” He nodded and stuck his hands in his pocket, looking like he didn’t belong in his own kitchen. 

“Help me with this fuckin’ crib would ya?” Ian kicked the box that was halfway through their doorway. 

The other boy glanced down and nodded, “oh, uh, fuck, I gotcha.” He gripped the side of the box and helped Ian pick and balance the box on their way up the steps. 

“Hey I’m gonna make him a bottle!” Karen shouted to them, rolling her eyes when she got no reply. 

Lip and Ian struggled down the hallway, trying not to bump into the walls or knock anything over.

“Hey- ugh- how are we gonna fit this in our room? We’ve got like four people in there already.” The two sighed heavily when they dropped the box on the ground.

“Fuck, that was surprisingly heavy. Damn.” He rolled his shoulders, popping one of them in the process. 

Lip laughed, “out of shape are we?”

Ian rolled his eyes, his mouth a soft smile. “Nope, I fuck everyday to stay fit.”

Lip shook his head, “hey I’ll uh see ya. Unless you need help?” He quickly added.

“No I’m good, talk to fuckin’ Karen already.” He smirked at his brothers blush, his intention going to the box he would have to open and then figure out how to assemble what was inside.

Lip hopped down the stairs, his eyes being met with Karen sitting on the counter, Hymie laying on the floor, _actually laying on the floor and Alek in her arms, his mouth stuffed with a bottle he was happily sucking on._

__

“Hey…” He nervously said, not really sure what to say in a situation like this. 

__

Karen looked up, her eyes still soft from looking at the infant. “Hey.” She returned.

__

“Haven’t seen ya in a while…what have you been doin’ all this time.” He across the distance between them and sat himself next to her on the counter.

__

She shrugged, “not much. Here there, me and mom basically traveled everywhere. Hymie kind of grew on me…don’t think I’ll ever see him as my kid though. He’s more of a companion.” 

__

Lip smiled, good old Karen.

__

He looked over at Alek who was now done with the bottle and snuggled in her arms, his little body fitting into the curve of her elbow and fitting nicely against her chest. 

__

“Could’a been us…too bad I fucked this up.” Karen murmbled.

__

Lip chuckled, “I’m sure there’s still time for me to knock you up and you get sent to jail leaving me with our baby.”

__

She nudged his shoulder playfully, “okay maybe not exactly like Ian and Mickey. But you know what I mean…if only Hymie was yours.” She sighed pathetically, her eyes moving to her son who was sprawled out on the floor. 

__

“Maybe.” He agreed, his hand going over to the baby, his fingers lightly petting the newborns firey hair. “He’s adorable, weird to think he came from Mick.”

__

Karen chuckled, “yeah…dude was kind of trash when I met him. He change at all over the years?” 

__

Lip hesitated, his mind going back to all his interactions with Mickey and then to the ones he had with Ian. “Dude was a dick, but he gave a shit about my brother. And I’ll give him that. Fucker really cared for him.”

__

Karen nodded, her hand smoothing the babies blue onesie. “Douchebag had his kid knowin’ he’d never see it again.”

__

Lip scoffed, “you had someone’s kid and you didn’t even want it.”

__

Karen chuckled, “I kept him because I was tryin’ get money for him. You remember. If I wouldn’t have been able to get money I would have aborted him.”

__

Lip was silent for a while, his mind racing with all this new information. “Always thought I’d be a teenage parent. Or like Carl, kinda started thinking he would be. But then I’m not the father to your baby, Carl turns out to be a smart guy who’s joining the fuckin’ military and Debbie and Ian are the ones doin’ stupid shit. I’m doin’ stupid shit too. Not the same as them but…” he left off in the middle of his sentence, not knowing what else to say. 

__

Karen looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “Debbie too?”

__

Lip nodded, feeling like he needed a smoke right about now. “Yeah, she fucked some random boy. Not really sure about all of it, all I know is she did it to get him to stay and then he moved and left her with a baby.”

__

Karen nodded, almost like the whole thing was normal. “What’d she have?”

__

“Girl, her names Franny. Named her after Frank, the ‘only one who was there for her’” he used air quotes as he talked.”

__

Karen smiled, her one hand moving to wrap its way around Lip’s shoulder. “Let’s pretend for one minute. That it’s just you and me. This is our house, these are our kids, and we’ve always been happily in love.” She leaned in closer and Lip was starting to get suspicious.

__

“Okay, why though?” 

__

She leaned in and placed a longing and affectionate kiss to his lips. “A girl can dream right?”

__

The boy laughed, “This is your dream? You, me, house and 2.5 children?”

__

She moved closer, mindful of the baby in her arms. “2.5? Didn’t know children came in half.”

__

Lip rolled his eyes and placed his hand on her cheek, deepening the kiss.

__


	6. Crying At Pumkins

“You want to decorate for Halloween?” Ian was bouncing Alek as he frowned at his older sister who was hanging up fake cobwebs.

“We’ve never really done anything for the holidays. Especially not Halloween, so I was thinking we’d do something this year.” She shrugged as if it was normal, which of course it was, but not for them.

“Why now? We’re not kids, and Franny and Alek are too young to remember anyways.” Ian reasoned.

Fiona sighed, “there’s this guy I’ve been seeing…his names Jason and he has this big great family and they do all these amazing things for the holidays. I just wanted to pretend for once…” she looked up at him with those broken and distant eyes that always seemed to shut down when he needed them.

“Alright, I’ll help you. We can be a fake family for the holidays. What, aren’t there like…seven of them? I think we can manage.” Ian had a smile on his face, just imagining them trying to act like they were a normal family for even a few hours.

“Great, so I went to the North side last night and um, I basically kind of stole all their decorations. Don’t worry I didn’t make it that suspicious, I took a little from different houses, so I think we’re good. Turns out rich people waste a lot of money on Halloween shit, what a surprise.” She brought Ian’s attention to a trash bag filled to the brim with purple tinsel and pumpkin lights. 

Ian laughed, his eyes going over all the stuff inside the bag. “You’ve got a lot - you need help setting it up? I’m sure me an’ Lip could give ya a hand. That is if he isn’t fucking Karen.”

Fiona gave him a look, “Karen’s back? Since when?” 

“Since yesterday, she showed up when I was headin’ to the store. Right outside the door really, was probably goin’ to see Lip.” He ran his fingers along Alek’s cheek, marveling over how soft and fragile he was.

Fiona shook her head displeasing, “can’t be good.” She took some tinsel from the trash bag and taped it over the kitchen window. “Karen’s never good.” She took the bag and went over to the window near the table, doing the same to the one in the kitchen. 

“It’s probably not gonna end well, but ya might as well watch the ship sink.” He shrugged and played with the buttons on Alek’s onesie. 

“Think this looks Halloween enough?” She put her hands on her hips and admired her work. “I think it looks good.”

Ian snorted, “looks pretty depressing to me.” 

She gave him a glare and picked the black bag up again. “I’ll be outside, hanging up the rest. Wish me luck.” 

Ian rolled his eyes, “good luck not killing yourself.” He called after her.

Alek made a gurgle noise and grabbed onto Ian’s shirt, his bright blue eyes gazing up at Ian with such wonder it hurt.

How could such a small and helpless creature look at him like that. It was undeserving and his heart ached in ways he wished it didn’t. 

“I was really bad…” he whispered to the infant, his voice soft. “I was really bad and I made a lot of mistakes. I have something really bad that’s wrong with me; and I hope to God you don’t have it either. But this thing I have messed me up and I didn’t some bad things.” He was smoothing his thumb over Alek’s chest, the rise and fall of his small body an amazing experience of its own. 

“I hope you’ll forgive me one day…for the fact that if I never told Sammi about me being in the military your daddy would have never been sent to jail. That I ruined everything.” Tears welled up his eyes and he sighed, “I’m sorry…” 

Alek flattened his hand on Ian’s shirt and then curled into the fabric. His eyes roaming around the room and then back to Ian’s green ones. 

“But hey, let's look on the bright side. It’s Halloween and we’re gonna be doin’ all the normal stuff people do for the holiday. We might not get the same chance next year so we might as well make the best of it right?” He smiled down at the baby and tickled the side of the small boys body. 

He squirmed and whined, his other hand reaching out to grab onto his shirt. 

“Maybe I could put you in a little outfit? Would you like that?” He tickled the baby again and Alek again spasmed away from the attack.

Lip came through the door, a bright smile his face. “You see Fiona out there? She’s fuckin’ dangling from the back porch tryin’a put up lights. Why the fuck is she doin’ all this?”

“This dude she likes, Jason. Apparently he has a happy family that does holidays and shit.” 

“How longs that gonna last? Guys like that never do.” 

“I don’t know, I mean Karen’s not poor and she keep comin’ back.” Ian retorted with.

Lip rolled his eyes, “Karen’s family isn’t exactly normal. Her dad offed himself and had an insane obsession with clowns and her mom’s a paranoid wack job that couldn’t leave the house. We weren’t that strange to her.” 

Ian laughed, “okay, I see your point.”

Lip hopped onto the sofa next to him and pulled out a joint. “Want one?” He handed one out to Ian.

“Why the fuck not?” He took the rolled up the weed from Lip’s hands and placed it in his mouth, lighting the end of it with the lighter Lip provided.

“Hey, is this shit okay for babies?” The older Gallagher looked down at Alek who was staring intently at the lighter Ian had just used.

“I’m sure he’ll be fine. It’s a plant.” He shrugged and took a drag, the smoke coming through his nostrils.

“Whatever dude, he’s your kid so-“ Lip shrugged and leaned against the couch. “Don’t think I’m ever gonna have kids.” He chuckled but there was pain behind his eyes.

“Not true, we both know eventually you’ll knock some poor girl up.” 

Lip kicked his leg and rolled his eyes, “yeah, yeah, you know what I mean…I’m never gonna really have my own family.”

Ian shrugged, “think any of us are? Maybe Carl, actually think the kid has potential.” 

Lip scoffed, “you and Debbie could find someone too. Besides aren’t you dating someone.”

Ian again, shrugged. “I mean yeah I am, and I really like him. But he doesn’t know about Alek, and I don’t count on him being okay with him. I mean it’s hard for you with Karen and Hymie, right?”

Lip groaned, “dude it’s not the same. Ya gotta stop with all this, I mean it’s normal for a guy to find out he had a random kid. You found out faster than most. And for me and Karen, I hated her, she cheated on me and got knocked up by some other guy when I was ready to change my whole life to help her, thinkin’ it was my baby. You were with Mick before Trevor and if the guy can’t see past you takin’ care of your kid he’s not the right dude.” Lip gave Ian’s shoulder a squeeze and then stood up. “I’m heading back to the University again, you maybe wanna tag along?”

Ian thought about it, of course he wanted to go but he’d never gone with Alek before and traveling long distance seemed like an unwanted problem that could be easily stopped.

“Sure, I’ll grab a bag. How long am I stayin’?” 

Lip shook his head, “how should I fuckin’ know? How long do you wanna stay?” 

Ian quickly pondered this, “how about till Halloween this time. Promised Fiona I’d be here and all that.”

Lip nodded and chuckled, “I did too. She gave me those fuckin’ desperate ‘help me I’m drowning’ eyes and I just gave in. Gotta fuckin’ work on that.”

Ian snorted, rolling his eyes affectionately. “I’ll go pack a bag and we can hit the road.”


	7. Me and My Brother

Fiona was standing at Ian’s door, her arms crossed over her chest as she watched him gather his clothes and pack them into a backpack. 

“You’re really gonna stay with Lip at the dorms again?” She couldn’t understand his reasoning behind it, even if he’d tried to explain in many times.

“Yeah, it’ll be fun. Alek could use a change of scenery, and we get to have more brotherly bonding.” He hand packed four shirts, along with underwear, jeans, and two jackets. He was only staying for four days, he didn’t need too much.

“I don’t know, you’re still learning how to take care of the fuckin’ kid. He’s a couple days old, he doesn’t know what the fucks happenin’, a ‘change of scenery’ is gonna do shit for him. He needs you to stay here and learn how to be a dad to him.”

Ian ignored her in favor of packing the new baby clothes he had bought Alek into his backpack. “It’ll be fun, Fiona.”

“It’s not practical, it’s fuckin’ insane!” Her hands were swinging by her sides as she did her extravagant gestures. “...are you taking your meds…” she knew the subject was rough and so she always tired to approach it carefully.

He turned sharply to her, “of course I am. Haven’t stopped in awhile. Just cause I’m changing some things, doin’ em’ differently. It doesn’t matter.” He shook his head, “I’m gonna go with Lip, have some fun, then I’m gonna come back and I’ll do all the fatherly duties I’m expected to do.”

Fiona’s lips pulled into a frown, “Ian…I don’t think what you have in mind is what’s best for the baby.”

Ian glared over at her, “I’m not going to fuckin’ endanger him!” His voice boomed through the room, startling the baby that was in the newly built crib. 

“Leave him here…I’ll watch him.” She muttered, her eyes pools of worry.

He scoffed, “think I’m gonna just let you give him away so easily?” He shook his head at his ridiculous sister. 

“No, I mean it. You said it yourself, you need a break. So have one, he’ll be here when you get back.” Her eyes didn’t waver and Ian frowned, his mind now unsure of his decision.

He looked over to Alek who had calmed down and was now raising and dropping his arm, looking at the extension of his body like it was alive. 

“You promise.” He grit out, his eyes hard and his jaw locked. 

His older sister nodded, “it’s just four days right? What harm could it do?” 

The redhead went back to packing, except now he excluded Alek’s baby things. He threw on a black puffy jacket and then slung his bag over his shoulder. “Thanks Fi, I really appreciate it.” 

She nodded, a fake smile on her face. “No biggy.”

He walked over to his son’s crib and looked down inside. The small boy’s attention was still on his arm but now he was trying to kick his legs as well.

“Hey little guy, I’ll be back before you know it…I love you…” he leaned down and placed a kiss on the little redhead’s forehead and stood up again.

“I’ll see ya for Halloween.” 

And with that he left, his face bright and excited as he headed out of the house and to Lip’s waiting car.

His older brother looked up, a cigarette in his mouth. “Ready to go-? Hey where’s Alek?” He looked at Ian and then to his empty arms.

“Fiona said she’d watch him for me. It was a shock, but I’m not gonna pass it up.” He hopped into the car next to Lip and turned up the heat. “Let’s get goin’.” 

Lip shook his head, put he didn’t resist from pulling out from the spot in front of their house and driving off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter - I usually make them at least 1,000 words.
> 
> Let me know in the comments what you think is going to happen and make sure give kudos so I know you’re enjoying it!


	8. Fiona, What A Godsend

“Sweet Caroline!” Was shouted out of the car, the two boys banging their hands on the dashboard as they swung their heads back and forth and jammed out to the radio. 

Lip was jerking the car back and forth and Ian was trying to keep his lunch down from all the beer they drink the previous night. 

“Fuck!” Lip swore, his lips turned up in a smile and his eyes were lit up like a Christmas tree. “That was fuckin’ awesome! I’ve never banged so many chicks in my life!” He was swinging his head around and smiling with that ‘I got laid’ look on his face.

Ian was nodding along, “that last dude…holy fuck. Definition of a twink and god, the way he bounced on my dick and squeezed his legs made everythin’ better.”

Lip laughed and his head threw back with the motion. “That was a fuckin’ good party. Wish it wasn’ over.” He looked over at Ian who lazily nodded. 

“I could party forever, god, I’m not goin’ to miss the hangover I’m gonna get though.” He rubbed at his already pounding head.

Lip laughed again and contained on his way driving through the neighborhood. He drove past Vee and Kevin’s house to find them running from their house and over to what was most likely the Gallagher’s. 

“Fuck, dude…” Lip looked ahead to see what appeared to be an ambulance and CPS. Ian’s mouth had gone slack and he was staring at Fiona arguing with a police officer who had Franny in his arms. When the two brothers got closer they could see their younger sister pinned to the cop car and struggling while shouting profanities at the cop holding her daughter.

Ian was looking everywhere and frantically trying to find his kid when someone submerged from the house with the young boy in her arms.

The car hadn’t even fully stopped when the teen lept from the car and ran over to the police officers.

“Stop- stop- stop! Who are you?!” A lady in a cop uniform stepped out of legit nowhere and blocked him from getting closer.

“This is my family! That’s my kid!” He tried to push his way past her but the blaring of the ambulance taking off distracted him and he was off guard and shoved to the ground.

“Holy fuck!” He got off of the ground angrily and raised his finger to connect it with the woman’s face only for his elbow to be grabbed and yanked down. 

Lip was right beside him and holding onto him like a life raft. “Calm. Down.” He took in a deep breath and kept his wide and bloodshot eyes on his brother.

Ian took in a deep breath and then let it out, his focus going back to the female cop that was looking slightly startled at the two of them.

“We live here and this is our family, what the fuck happened?” Ian was grinding his teeth with how hard his jaw was locked.

“Am ambulance was called and so was the police, a reporting about someone falling down the stairs and child endangerment somehow happened and that leaves us now. We’re going to be taking Miss. Gallagher down to the station for questioning and we’d like to take you, him” she gestured to Lip “and your sister I’m guessing, with us.”

“What about my kid? And Franny and Liam, where the hell are they going to go.” He was looking at the police woman’s dark pools of brown and his son who was tucked against the officers arm. 

“They’ll be taken to a foster home for a couple of days before we can work this out.” Her tone wasn’t unkind but it left no room for discussion so Ian held his tongue. 

“If you and your brother? Don’t mind we’ll be handcuffing you and taking you to the police station.” Her lips formed a sadistic smile and she gestured with her finger for them to turn around.

The two looked at each other questioningly and did as told, rotating and putting their arms behind them. 

Ian heard the clasp and slight gasp that Lip made, and before he even felt the too tight handcuffs on his wrist he knew his circulation was about to be cut off. 

The officer lead the two of them to the squad car and pushed them inside, causing Lip to fall on Ian in a ridiculous and humiliating way. 

The two straightened themselves and grumbled silently about how handsy she was. 

Fiona was pushed in after them, her face beat red and her arms awkwardly dangling like noodles. 

“What the fuck did you do Fiona?!” Ian shouted, his hands struggling to free themselves. 

“I didn’t mean to! I just-“ she quickly stopped as the cop got into the car and started to pull away.

“Hey, where’s Debbie goin’?” Lip worried, his head turning to see out the back window. 

“Not enough room in room, they’re takin’ her in another cop car. There’s too many of you Gallagher’s.” 

The three didn’t know how to tell him how real that was.


	9. Five to Ten Years

The room was drab and cold, his feet nervously tapping as he waited for an officer to enter. 

He heard footsteps and then talking, followed by the door creaking open and an older lady with greeting hair stepped inside. Her face was devoid of emotion and her blue almost grey eyes stared hard at him. 

He moved to sit in the chair across from him, her hands and a file folder where places on the surface of the table separating them.

“Your whole family’s had some difficulties with the law.” She began. “I don’t think having these children return to your family’s care is a good idea.” Ian was about to interrupt when she continued. “Your brother. He’s got a chance to find a family that can support and raise him. It’s not too late for him to be adopted, though it might be more challenging. Your sisters daughter, well anyone would love to take a sweet girl like that. She could find a responsible forever family too. Same with your son, families who have the financial stability and the love to care for these children but are unable to have their own would jump at this chance.”

By the end of her speech Ian was fed up, his annoyed and insulted glare told the policewoman that much. “I’m not letting strangers have my son.”

“This is an opportunity for your child to have a better life. Everything we’re trying to do is to help the child.” She gave him that look, the ‘I'm a parent and I know’ look and he wanted to smack it off her face. “My daughter was in the same predicament, she had done a foolish thing and was stuck with a baby. The father wanted nothing to do with the kid and frankly she didn’t either. So she put it up for adoption and now her daughter lives a happy life with a couple who couldn’t have kids of their own.”

Ian rolled his eyes, “some sob story about your kid isn’t gonna get me to get rid of mine. Yeah, my family may be messed up. But that’s all we’ve got. Family is everything to us. My sister Fiona has to take care of us when we were kids because our mom was bipolar and my dad was a drunk. Yeah, she messes up sometimes and maybe we didn’t turn out to be the best of people. But my brother got into college, my sister is learning to become a welder and my younger brother is training to be in the army-“

“Younger brother? You have another one…?” She raised her eyebrow in a curious and judgmental manner.

“There’s six of us.”

“All in that tiny house?” She shook her head and scribbled something down in her file folder.

“The fuck? It’s not like we’re all crammed in there. My mom is dead, my dad, Jesus I don’t know where the fuck he lives, Fiona stays there, Lip stays with girlfriends, Carl lives there when he’s not away at school and Debbie, Franny and Liam live there. That’s only four and half people, Franny’s like one so that’s shit to really count her.”

“Look Mr. Gallagher, I’ve been working with Child Protective Services for thirty years now. I know when a parent is unfit to raise a child. And that is exactly what you are.” 

“I am not!” He shouted back, his fists clenching and unclenching as he tried to keep hold of his emotions.

“Where were you then? You left your sister who is a convicted felon to take care of your child while you what? Went out and partied?” She tsked and wrote some more in the file. Ian tried to open his mouth but it was like she had eyes on her forehead. “Don’t even try; I can smell the booze on you. I could have you arrested for drinking and driving.” 

“I wasn’t driving!”

“You’re brother was.”

“That’s not fuckin’ me!” He was trying to pull at the chains that clamped his wrists together. 

“You got into the car knowing someone intoxicated was driving. You left your child alone with your felon sister. Ian, you can’t keep doing this. It’s going to hurt your son.”

His stone cold face was still in place when he looked up at her. “I’m not letting him go. I- I can’t. He’s all I’ve got left of-“ he cut himself off and looked away. “I work as an EMT, I either stay at home or stay with my boyfriend, I’ve got all the stuff to take care of him. Don’t take Alek away from me.” His eyes were cloudy and he was trying not to let any tears fall.

“Look, we don’t have enough evidence against you permanently having your son taken away. But we can’t send Alek back into an unsafe environment. He, Franny and Liam have already been placed into foster homes and Debbie is in a girls home. Until you can show you’re a fit parent you can’t have custody of him.”

He was shaking his head confused, “what? Fuck! H-How can I do that?”

“You will need to most likely go to AA meetings and some parenting classes.”

“AA? What’s that?” 

“Alcoholics Anonymous.”

“What! I’m not a fuckin’ Alcholic!”

“You can go to the classes for a while or you can’t see your kid. They need to see some real improvement, and you not drinking for awhile will be a big one. I already have a parenting class in mind for teenage parents.” She was digging through the file folder till she pulled out a pamphlet that had a young girl and a little boy on the cover, both smiling happily.

“You’re joking?” He laughed at the ridiculousness of it all. 

“Does it look like I am?” She was glaring at him and he was starting to lose his smile. 

“Fine I’ll um…I’ll do these stupid classes. What about Alek. What’s gonna happen to him?”

“He is being placed with Bernard and Beatrix Campsure who have been trying to find a foster kid to be their forever child.”

“Well they can’t have mine.” He insisted, his voice sure and hard.

“And they won’t.” She assured. “As long you go to these class you will get your son back.”

“What about Debbie? And- and Franny and Liam?” He couldn’t imagine what his sister was going through in a group home. Those were the absolute worst.

“Your sister will most likely be in the GU until she reaches eighteen which is in a month. I wouldn’t worry about her.” She was back to writing in his file and he wanted to rip all those papers up the longer he saw her writing.

“GU? What the fuck is that? And what about Franny and Liam?”

“Girls United is the name of her group home. You should easily be able to find it so you can visit her. Francis is with Becky and Jonathan Rosen who are very kind and lovely people. She will be staying with them until Debbie is a legal adult. Liam on the other hand will be in his foster family a lot longer. Fiona is an unfit parent and will most likely be convicted again and have to serve jail time. Either you or your older brother will need to step up and be his legal guardian before he is released from Darleen and Shannon’s care.”

Ian was trying to understand and comply with everything Janance; as her name tag said. Was telling him. 

“How long do you think this will take for us all to go back to normal?”

She frowned and snickered, “normal? There’s not going to be a going back to normal. Debbie should have hear kid in two months, you’re lookin on three to four, Liam should be back in your car for your sake in a year and Fiona might not be back for five to ten years.”

Ian’s eyes were wide and his breathing had gone from calm to hyper. “I- I don’t-“ 

“You have to relax and worry about your kid. He comes first in all of this, alright?”

Ian nodded, “alright…when can I see him? Could I visit Franny and Liam too?”

Janance nodded, “you will be able to spend time with all of them. I will be giving you a call of when that can happen, it’s all up to the foster families.”

Ian forced himself to nod even when he wanted to punch her square in the face for saying someone else got to control when he could and couldn’t see his son.

“If you leave a phone number I can contact you with you may leave Mr. Gallagher.” Her eyes went from his and back to the paper Ian was burning with his eyes.

He quickly scribbled out his digits on a scrap piece of paper and practically ran from the room and the police station, not stopping until he reached the house he grew up in where he stumbled past the fence and fell into the yard, tears he had been trying to hide all day came pouring down his face and he found his hard exterior broken.


End file.
